What can I say, is a story from Bones’ point of view (POV); that should be enough incentive to read this novella on either this book or on its original incarnation as part of the anthology “Unbound”. This is a prequel-short story of sorts; it takes place right before we meet Bones in Halfway to the Grave.

Bones has been summoned to a meeting by none other than Marie “Majestic” Laveau, (the famous voodoo priestess of the French Quarter in New Orleans, Louisiana) to find and take care of the infamous LaLaurie couple, notoriously known in human lore for their vicious tendencies. But, what should have been a straight forward missions, turns into a game of hide and seek when a third party becomes involve and the life of an innocent woman increases the stakes even higher. Bones must find a way to subdue the LaLauries while surviving the relentless attacks of a mystery guy, plus keeping his only lead on the case alive.

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Inkspell is the second book in the Inkheart trilogy. Although some scenes in the book are predictable the overall story is great. It has amazing characters (you actually want to see the bad guys suffer). And is a magical journey. The story picks up one year after the events in the first book. The Silvertongue family is overwhelmed for finally being together but Meggie can't take the "Inkworld" off her mind, and so decides to visit it when Farid comes asking for her help. But just four days after her departure things go sour when the surviving Mortola and Basta try to avenge Capricorn's death attacking the family. And so we finally make our way to a world no longer bound by the covers of the book. Where the characters struggle to survive while the book/story goes on telling itself.

For those expecting the ending of this particular book to have some resolution, it doesn't. It ends like any normal chapter when you are half way through a story. That is because the story continues in the third book right where this ends. And do expect a little chronological back and forth since the main characters are split from one another.

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Well you can call me Silros. I am a fifteen year old girl that is really interested in ALL kinds of books, mostly fantasy, and gothic fiction. My fave subjects to read about are angels, demons, vampires and magic in general. I DO NOT like reading the dumb, slow and boring novels I have to read for my Spanish class! Although I can’t read adult books yet in a couple of years I will be able to. So in the meantime I will be reviewing young adult books and books suitable for all ages. I’m actually new to this whole reviewing what I read thing so truthfully I’m not the best reviewer so please bear with me. I do promise that with more practice my reviews on books will get better.

UPDATE:

Due to academic overload Silros won't be able to join me here in the blog.

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

For the longest time I considered myself a purist when it came to reading, holding a book in my hands and being able to smell and feel the pages is part of the reading experience. Add to it that since I was a child I will get the most annoying headaches and migraines possible, so the idea of reading from a device while no longer holding a real book was a little far fetch for me. However, once I started college I became familiarized with this technology; and truly, I fell in love with it.

It was a very convenient fix to my problem of an already too heavy backpack. Since my laptop had to go with me everywhere, all I needed was a program that allowed me to read my books while on the go, sort of speak. I discovered the wonders of Microsoft Reader for PC and it became my number one format for most of my non-college books. Slowly, but surely eBooks began pulling me more and more towards the digital media. Still, I refused to buy an actual reading device on the principle that eBooks where not “real books” and that I will – at some point – buy the ones I really love to add them to my collection (a collection that, at the time, my mother was getting extremely weary of).

After falling into the smartphone trend and discovering the various e-reader apps on the markets I was excited, I no longer needed my laptop in order to read a book. Although is a great convenience to have the apps on the phone it is also mortal to the device’s battery, more than once I have drain a considerably huge chunk of my battery on a single sitting while waiting for my turn at an office. Even though the concept of a smartphone is the ability to multitask while literary on the go, the main reason most people – including me – buy a phone is to have the means to make a call in case of emergencies or when needed; purpose that is defeated after a couple of hours of reading, playing, surfing the net, or using any other of the extra functions available today.

I finally caved; at the beginning of December – after careful consideration, and a lot of research – I gifted myself a Kindle Touch. The reason I chose Kindle over Nook, or any other e-reader, was primarily based on the fact that my entire eBook collection is from Amazon. Actually, before I even started buying eBooks I was buying paperbacks and hardbacks from the same website. I do have to say that the Nook Simple Touch almost had me with the expandable memory, but in the end Kindle won because, like I said before, my entire book collection is from Amazon; I don’t have a single Barnes & Noble book, so the Kindle Touch was the obvious choice for me. I know, I know, I could have gone for the Kindle Fire, and to be honest, I nearly did. But the Kindle Fire has a few specifications that, considering is a tablet, were a deal breaker for me; the most important being its lack of expandable memory even though is an Android Tablet plus the back lit screen. One of the reasons I decided I was getting an e-reader was for the e-ink capability, which neither the Kindle Fire, nor the Nook Tablet, nor any Tablet in the market for that matter has.

Come December, and I walk into an electronics’ store and I see it, it’s standing on a small rack right beside all the other e-readers and tablets. I couldn’t contain myself; I was planning on ordering it, but now I could have it in my hands in a matter of minutes instead of days and at the same price! After what seem like an eternity waiting in line to pay, I got to my boyfriend’s house and opened my precious.

There are two versions of the Kindle Touch currently available, each one comes with or without “special offers”, which a fancy way of saying it has ads. The Kindle Touch it’s priced at $99.00 with offers (this is the version I bought) and at $139.00 without the special offers. The Kindle Touch 3G it’s priced at $149.00 with offers and $189.00 without them. The devices are exactly the same, the only difference is that whereas the Touch is only Wi-Fi, the Touch 3G has free 3G wireless + Wi-Fi. Personally, I don’t need the 3G, all I need to do is load up the kindle beforehand while home and then don’t have to worry about needing the Wi-Fi. The ads appear while you are either working in some part of the menu or while the device is on standby; not a single ad can be seen while reading a book.

Monday, December 26, 2011

Jeaniene Frost posted today a new excerpt from her greatly awaited Once Burned novel, the story of Vlad Tepesh the sexy Romanian vampire also known as Dracula. I am dying to read this book, and oh it’s so torturing to see these glimpses of the story but not being able to read it completely!!

Thursday, December 22, 2011

DISCLAIMER: This system, although popularly use to for rating movies, books, items, etc. I am making it my own. This is the way that I will rate my book and movies; under this system those that I like will most likely end up a 4 stars book. I want to limit the 5 stars rating for those works that can make you take a moment and reflect about your life; if I simply love it won’t get anything life changing out of it then it will remain a 4 star.

THE 5 STARS:★★★★★
I confess, I have bit of a double standard in this particular category. Any book rated as a five star book is an outstanding work of literary art; it was amazing to read. There are life changing perspectives that can alter one’s personal thinking or views. For example, a book that I have rated with 5 stars is The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien. However, some books are not life changing but are simply AMAZING and -in my honest opinion- worth giving a chance; so occasionally there will be some of those rated with 5 stars simply because I'm obsessing over them.

THE 4 STARS:★★★★
Well worth the time. I love it, it is not life changing, but is extremely enjoyable. I will most definitely recommend it to anybody who loves the particular genre. For example, a book that I have rated as 4 stars is the Halfway to the Grave (Night Huntress, Book 1) by Jeaniene Frost.

THE 3 STARS:★★★
I actually enjoyed this book, like it but didn’t love it. It has some issues, but nothing that cannot be overlooked. Overall I feel very neutral about this book, will most likely buy the next installment but I won’t rush to do it. For example, a book that I have rated 3 stars isEvangelina Green by Susan Firtik.

THE 2 STARS:★★
The book has its moments, unfortunately the bad outweighs the good; the potential is there, but overall could have been better. For example, a book that I have rated with 2 stars is Sacrifice (Mortal Path Book 2) by Dakota Banks.

THE 1 STAR:★
I did not liked this book; I only finished it because I was giving it time for the story to get better, it never happened. In my opinion not worth reading, there is no way that I’ll recommend it. For example, a book that I have rated with 1 star is The Forest of Hand and Teeth (The Forest of Hand and Teeth, Book 1) by Carrie Ryan.

Evangelina Green has recently undertaken the mighty job of restoring her and her sister’s childhood summer home into its former glory; coincidently she is trying to, hopefully, help revitalize the town as well. However, being back to this house doesn’t only bring back memories; it also brings back secrets and stirs huge trouble that is somehow connected to her past. More intriguing it is that all the unraveling events are somehow connected to her unknown father; demonstrating that when destiny knocks on your doorstep there is little you can do to avoid it.

The authors of most – if not all – of the series I have read so far, when having multiple characters to develop, have a tendency to give each characters his/her own book to fully explore their story; meanwhile those character’s participations in other installments of the same series tend to have little showcasing. Something I found refreshing and ended up enjoying about Firtik’s writing is that she took the time to feature other sisters and their love interests; even thought this seems to be a series just like any other. However, I felt that it chopped the story a bit in some places while in other there was a natural transition between the intertwining stories.

The world construct presents sexy werewolves, mysterious vampires, an evil witch and a demon; all very well defined characters. My only complaint is that, in a few parts, the action in the story slowed to a crawl; this parts usually where too centered on brushing and cleaning and re-building the House to its former glory. The House is another character in the story; one that hopefully will have a major plot line in future books. However, this is the first book of a series so the foundation for the story needs to be set.

Overall I enjoyed the story and I am looking forward to the next installment, Tatianna Yellow (from which an excerpt is included at the end of the book). Her story was left hanging and I want to know what will happen to her and her sexy vampire.

OH My God! OH My God! It is finally here!! The first trailer for The Hobbit has finally been released!!

This is one of those movies that needs no introduction, it has become such a cultural phenomenon that even those who haven’t read the book (or neither of the stories of Middle Earth) or even saw the movies based on The Lord of the Rings easily recognize it; and chances are will march alongside the hard core fan base towards the movie theaters in order to see it.

The Hobbit or There and Back Again is one of my all-time favorite books. It’s such a great adventure riddle with danger and courage and magic; it’s the perfect tale of the reluctant hero. It’s one of those books that I can re-read time and time again and never get tired of it (which I had, numerous times ^.~).

In the trailer we see a younger looking Bilbo Baggins being approached by Gandalf the Grey, soon Bilbo’s house gets taken over by a bunch of ale drinking, food rampaging dwarfs. One of my favorite scenes from the book takes place at the beginning of the story, while Bag End is temporary taken over to host a secret meeting. After all the plotting and plans of departure are done, the dwarfs begin to sing. I am so glad it was presented on the trailer; watching it sent chills all over my body. Aside from Sir Ian McKellen, a slew of well-known actors are re-dressing themselves with their Middle Age garbs. Among them we get to see Cate Blanchett as Galadriel, the dwarfs, the trolls, and a gleam at Andy Serkis’ Gollum.

I’m not going to say any more spoilers; the movie has been slated for December 14, 2012 which means an entire year before we can sit to enjoy it; plus an entire year of pure torture. In the mean time we must make due with trailers, teasers and promo spots.

Jeaniene Frost has a new short story from her acclaim series Night Huntress. The story is a part of an anthology along side Lynsay Sands called The Bite Before Christmas. Like the title suggests, the story takes place during the holiday festivities. The stories that compose this anthology are "The Gift" by Sands and "Home for the Holidays" by Frost.

I will try to keep the review as spoiler free as posible.

The Gift by Lynsay Sands

Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆

I haven't read this short story yet, so will update this part of the review once i have gone through it

Home for the Holidays by Jeaniene Frost

Rating: ★★★★☆

I love this story and the fact that we get more of Bones' past shown to us. Chronologically, this story comes almost immediately after the events on One Grave at a Time, which was released this past August.

In Home for the Holidays Cat is getting ready to do something completely out of the ordinary in her typical lifestyle; spend some time at home, battling no one, and celebrating the festivities, not to mention spending some serious time with her delicious husband Bones. The celebration kicks off with Bones' B~day Party. But what is suppose to be a joyful time among family and friends takes a turn for the worse when a dark secret gets revealed. Lives become threatened, friendships might be broken and with a marriage in danger the stakes could not be higher (for a short story that is).

If one thing is certain is that Jeaniene Frost knows how to torture us fans of her books. For those of you ladies that have been claiming more Ian time, he gets some in this story, however, the story's main focus remains Bones and his back-story. Unfortunately for those of you who are Vlad fans he doesn't make an appearance in this one, but we do get a glance at Fabian, Mencheres, Kira, Spade, Denise, Annette and a new Vampire that becomes the surprise of a century (or two) for Bones. The story also explores a bit more in depth the world of Demons and the how their inner workings.

Saturday, December 3, 2011

My first erotica read. I found this book while I was searching the kindle store at amazon a few weeks ago; In there, I organize the entries based on the book’s prices and always begin with the lowest price ($o.oo) first. This book was free and even though it was originally published in 2005 the description hooked me right away.

The book in incredibly steamy and the plot is very engaging. However, I have a few problems with the book. As a disclaimer let me say that, not only is this my first erotica read it is also the first book that I read by Lauren Dane.

Here is my own summarize of the book’s plot, spoiler free:

Lee is the strongest witch her family has seen in generations, with her power of dream walking her job, along with the rest of her family, is to protect the people of New Orleans. Lee has been dreaming with a mysterious guy for the past two months, she doesn’t know the guys but feels an inexplicable connection to him. When she finally meets him a series of events threaten to break her, her family and the peace in New Orleans apart while a new series of dreams about another man threatens her relationship with her dream man. Can Lee be strong enough to face this new evil that is on the mists and is she capable of loving one man and lusting for another?

Now, what I liked about the book is its story and its characters, they are both very well written and interesting. What I don’t like is that the action takes place way too quickly.

DISCLAIMER: After the SPOILER ALERT mini banner below there will be some plot spoilers, I try to keep them at a minimum but some of them are hard. If you don’t like spoilers of any kind do not read what comes after the banner.

Wow, now this is the kind of story I enjoy; fast paced, with a really good story.

Chrysabelle is the best of the comarré, certainly the most expensive one, one of the many women raised to become a vampire’s life source. She has lived her life as decreed by tradition but when her patron is found dead and all signs point her as the culprit she must run away in order to find a way to clear her name. But when her journey takes an unexpected turn for the worst an unlikely ally might be her only hope. Malkolm, an outcast vampire have the power to help her but also a weakness that might kill her. With katana in hand and blades flying, she will be tested like never before.

Blood Rights is the first of in a series called House of Comarré by Kristen Painter. I saw this book through a blog and was kind of intrigued by its cover. The last thing i was expecting was such a wonderful, well-constructed world. Blood Rights grabbed me the same way the Night Huntress books have done. I found myself wanting to strangle some of the characters and knock some senses into others. I have always believe that a book should be able to tap into one's emotions so that you can truly feel like the characters do; in that this book is extremely well accomplished. I’ll recommend this book to anybody who enjoys vampire stories especially if they like their vamps allergic to sun, silver, wood (of sorts), and holy paraphernalia.

Write down below if you plan to read it, are already done with it, or any other comment that you might have.

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Next year will feature a faceoff to see who is the best Snow White; with two different takes on the classic story Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The first trailer for both movies came out recently and both seem to part greatly from the original story that inspired them. Both movies have one thing going on that I love, and is that the damsel in distress concept seems to be thrown out the window. I remember the first time I read the story of Snow White, not the Disney version, the original (or close to the original) were the Evil Queen be spells her not once, but three times!; first (if my memory serves me right) with a string of cloth, second with a comb and then the famous poisoned apple being the last try. The first thing that crossed my mind was, “oh not again! Is she really that stupid?” I was outraged to say the least. So – for me at least – to see the concept of the princess in waiting and sometimes downright useless lady being completely scrapped off in favor of a witty, sassy, go getter type of female is a refreshing move that I hope will give little girls the chance to see that we can do whatever we set our minds to.

The semifinal round for Goodreads Choice Awards has begun. The top 15 votes per category from the first round have been combined with the top 5 write-in per category giving you a new set of options. The second round commenced today November 14, 2011 and will be open until November 20, 2011. This round will narrow down the competition in half for the next and final round. Vote for your Favorites! You can access the voting page through the widget on the right side of the blog.

Ok, I first heard about this book while watching Deadliest Warrior’s season finale in Spike. For those who don’t know the series takes two extremely famous (deadly) warriors and matches them up through computer based statistics; example: Alexander the Great vs Attila the Hun. For their latest season finale they decided to takes things to the paranormal level and match up Zombies vs Vampires.

Now, I got interested in the book so I research a bit about it and most of the reviews seem favorable so I went and got it. I wasn’t sure what to expect out of this book but humor wasn’t it and it is certainly extremely funny.

As the book begins you get a rundown of what are zombies, how they are created and how long they’ve been around. From there it moves into a more or less detailed description of which weapons and combat techniques are “proven” to work best on zombies. It shows the reader the various ways to survive a zombie attack ranging from fending oneself against 5 or 6 zombies, all the way to full blown apocalypse. It even gives advice on post-apocalyptic survival. From this point on the book details – in chronological order – numerous attacks through history and their outcomes. As a bonus, the reader gets an Appendix which examples how to keep an outbreak journal so that a zombie attack can be identified.

In all, the book is a funny way to kill some time. I’ll recommend it to anyone who likes zombies or dystopian themed books.

Ok, I have mixed feeling with this book, maybe I just wasn’t in the right mood to read it, maybe it just irked me. This is a bundle edition of the Cassie Palmer Series. It contains the books 1 through 4.

The concept is really interesting and refreshing; I don’t remember reading about a clairvoyant book before and I kind of like Cassie. However, from the moment the book begins is a parade of famous character after famous character and that particular detailed kept distracting me from the plotline. I guess I’m the kind of girl that likes the characters – specially the world renowned ones – to be eased into the story rather than all thrown into it in the first 3 chapters. So I’m still trying to decipher whether I liked the story or not; might need to reread it to know for sure.

** I will update and add the reviews of the other books at a later time.

Sunday, November 6, 2011

It’s official!! Once Burned, Vlad’s book by Jeaniene Frost is finished and in the hands of her editor. However, the released date has been pushed back from its original date on March, 27 to a new slot on June, 26.

On her Belated Updates post on her blog Jeaniene announced that the first Night Prince book, the eagerly awaited story of Vlad Tepesh, will be released on June, 26. She explains that her original deadline for turning in the manuscript was October 1, but that she couldn’t make it, thus the release got pushed back. No worries, a later date means more time dedicated to the story, which translates into the amazing books we’ve been reading this past few years.

Jeaniene also tells us that the anthology The Bite Before Christmas has made it into the New York Times and USA Today bestsellers lists. My most sincere congratulations to Jeaniene on this; I read her story Home for the Holidays, and is – in one word – amazing! Jeaniene also hints at the possibility of Ian getting his own book (*fingers crossed*).

About Cat and Bones book 7; Jeaniene writes that once she is done with the revision process for Once Burned she will begin writing the next installment on the Night Huntress Series. Her books, This Side of the Grave is in the roaster of nominees at goodreads.com as one of this year’s best Paranormal Fantasy. In additions, “One Grave at a Time has been nominated for a Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice award for Best Urban Fantasy” (Jeaniene Frost, Belated Updates).

Friday, November 4, 2011

I am writing a story and I’m having problems deciding on the main characters’ names.

My main female is a Puerto Rican girl, she is white, with dark brown hair; about 5’4”; she is a witch with powers over the elements and her eyes – which are naturally brown – change color whenever she manifests a power over a particular element. Example: orangy-red for fire, cobalt blue for water, yellow for wind, and so on. I already know what her last names are going to be Meléndez Nieves; but I have trouble choosing a name for her. The names I like are

Mariana (I’m liking this one the most, but still not sure)
Arelys
Cristal
Angela
Aurora

At the end she will be Insert Name Here Meléndez Nieves (traditional latina name).

Now for my main male character I already know what name I want, I have problems figuring out his (and his family’s) last name. His name will be Alexander (Alex for short). He is a British young vampire, with creamy white skin, naturally deep blue eyes, golden hair with light brown streaks and he is a total gentleman. He has a strong build but he is also lean. He’s a photographer, and an artist; and has practice martial arts since he was a kid (courtesy of his dad). He is also a very young contemporary vampire (barely in his early 20’s). When I started thinking about this story I always picture him as Alexander O’Connell; but British names and surnames are not my strong suit so I don’t know if it’ll be a correct last name to use or not.

Can anyone help me? I need some concrete names so that I can stop writing things like “He/Boy said…” or “She/Girl did…” it’s becoming very confusing.

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Goodreads is choosing the year’s best books and is giving you the opportunity to vote for your favorite books or author. The choices will be made by open voting divided into three rounds. The first round started yesterday October, 31 and will end on November, 13; you get to vote in 22 different categories. If you’ll like to participate you can check it out through the link here:

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

When people think about their Favorite Place on Earth usually the first set of images that passes through their minds involves fantastical, exotic, far way places with robust, intriguing cultures that can evoke many different feelings in a person. However, if we introspect long enough we might discover that our favorite place tends not to be a remote slice of paradise, but an area that holds a deeper, more sentimental meaning to us. I have to admit that when I first thought about “my favorite place on earth or the one I longed for” I immediately started mentally creating a list of all the places I would love to visit; one of these places – siting at the top of the list – being my beloved Puerto Rico. From the second place onwards the list included all the countries I fancy globetrotting. Places like the United Kingdom, Spain, Greece, Rome, France, Russia, China, Japan, India, and Africa are all listed there in no particular order. There is something about their traditions and different cultures that have always fascinated me.

Regardless, the only places I have ever been to are, my home Puerto Rico and Florida, USA. Ironically, of the places I have visited – all few of them – the one that holds the title of My Favorite Place on Earth it is not Disney Land, or Miami, or Fort Lauderdale; it isn’t El Yunque, Culebras, or Gilligan’s Island. Oh no, my favorite place on Earth is a small patch of forest crisscrossed by a river right behind my childhood home. The river is called Cibuco and it crosses my whole town beginning at the Cuchilla neighborhood, picking up smaller streams going in a northbound journey until it joins the Atlantic Ocean at the North of the Vega Baja municipality.

I was 6 when my parents move out from our first home into what became my childhood house; giving me the opportunity to discover this other world. Since the moment I arrived, that river and all its surroundings became my favorite place ever. Regardless of the amount of houses in the area, the river feels like an oasis that is not quite from this planet. It can be seen from my old bedroom window with its many big slabs of rocks, its trees shadowing a knee deep water level that becomes extremely enticing around summer season.

Sunday, October 16, 2011

First off let me start with Hello, welcome and thank you for reading my blog. It is my first attempt at blogging and I’m a little apprehensive of the experience. So for the subject of my first post I will do my best to introduce myself and try to define my blog. I’m still not totally sure if it will be personal, or book reviews, or about my writings; probably a combination of all the above ^.^

So my name is Melisa and I’m from the beautiful Caribbean island of Puerto Rico. Feel free to call me Mel, my parents call me Melisa and they usually do it when they want to be formal or are just angry, everyone else calls me Mel, Mely or another variation. I’m an avid reader; I have so far read 52 books this year alone (according to Goodreads, where I log them) and I’m not done yet. My favorite genres are fantasy, urban fantasy, PNR, dystopian, as well as Sci-Fi. Movies are another passion of mine, to the point that I’m my family’s breathing, walking database. Music is also an important part of my life, although cats can sing better than I can, I always have music on, even if is just for background noise.

After many years of reading stories, I have decided to start writing my own. I’ve had a bunch of characters in my mind for well over 5 years and I just haven’t given them their deserved attention. One of the reasons for me to start this blog is to have the means put the story out there. Another is to have a place to showcase my favorite reads. Thinking about it I guess this blog will end up being a medley of this and other related works. I have a few of unpublished works, a few poems and essays that I would like to share as things move along.

So this would be it for my introductory post. Hope you have enjoyed it and that you’ll come back for more.

Here is one of my works; I found a picture online once (can't remember where) and i tried to draw it, this is the my end result:

It was over a year ago, and it still need more shading and finishing touches but i don't think i'll do it, not yet anyways.

PS: My first language is Spanish with English being my second; chances are that I will make mistakes grammar wise. Another thing is that some of my writings might be in Spanish instead of English.

DISCLAIMER

I believe in honesty and I appreciate the trust that you, as followers, place on me when you visit my blog. As such, a policy has been develop to comply with the FTC Guidelines, on the basis of my recent incursion in Blog Affiliations. To read the site policy follow THIS LINK.